Difficulty Starting (B12)

[Sven]

Back on New Year’s the Bandit was a little reluctant to start.  The battery had been on the new Battery Tender and was fully charged and cranking, but the motor was a little reluctant to catch.  At the time I wondered why, but later in the day, it started several times with no problems.  And since then, my schedule and the weather have conspired against riding.

Yesterday (Saturday the 31st, a month without riding it), I couldn’t get the Bandit to start.   Again, the battery had been on the Battery Tender and seemed to be fully charged and cranking, but the motor just would never catch and roar into life.  I tried giving it some throttle and using the choke, but neither helped.  So I left it and tried to figure out what was wrong.

This morning, I checked a few obvious things (battery connection, spark plug connection, starter wire connection, etc.) and found nothing wrong.  I decided to try to start it, and it started much like it had on the 1st, a little hesitant but then the engine kicked in.  The only difference between yesterday and today was that I accidentally left the choke partially open over night.

Thinking back over the past six months or so, I think the bike has been harder to start than it once was.  So this seems to be a problem that has slowly gotten worse.  The battery was fresh last spring, and the spark plugs are fresh last summer.  Oil, clutch fluid, etc are all changed on schedule.

Any ideas?

[pmackie]

Hey Sven

a couple of things...

1st - fuel will tend to evaporate from the carbs while in storage, lowering the fuel level and also making what's left a little harder to evaporate. If you put your fuel petcock to "Prime" it will make sure the carbs are full without having to crank enough to pull some vacuum on the petcock.

2nd - If the gasoline you have in the tank is more than a couple of months old, the vapour pressure will be lower than fresh "winter" fuel. In addition, the light ends tend to vapourize, even in storage, lowering the vapour pressure. Try some fresh fuel in the tank.

[mwheat308]

I had the same problem after letting the bike sit for a couple of weeks. I now set the petcock to prime for about 10 seconds before starting and it cranks right up.
Good luck.

[Sven]

You guys may have the right answer in the need for the line to be primed.  I fueled up either on New Year's Day or New Year's Eve, so the gas is not all that old.  Last year I went about this long between rides (New Year's Dar to February 3rd) due to having surgery on both feet.  (And no, my surgeon did not know I went for a ride four weeks after surgery!)

If the problem is *not* the gas (either stale or needed to be primed), and my feeling that the bike has been progressively harder to start over the past six months is more than just a feeling, what would be the next area to investigate?

[pmackie]

Hey Sven

If it's not gas related, then I'd ask a couple of more questions:

1. Age and condition of spark plugs would be next on my list. New plugs take less voltage to fire.
2. Even though it's on a Battery Tender, check the voltage of the battery. I usually have to charge my completely with an automotive charger every spring, even though I have it on a battery tender.

[B6mick]

Because ya bike seems to sit, I would be pulling the carbs down for an overhaul, inspection.

Fuel, has dyes in it, so to color code it into its different grades.
These dyes if left sitting do, seperate and coat the inside of jets, elumsion tudes.

I,ve found, in the past, by removing all the jets and giving them a good bath in acetone, it clean the build up, quick and proto(don't get any plactic bits wet with the acetone) blow dry with a air gun.

My bike don't ever sit to long but I've encountered such problems, having said that, 20cc of metho in every tank of fuel, helps keep water condensation and the build up of the gunk caused by the dye, at bay.